Meter for industrial liquids



Jan. 20, 1953 R. B. PREssLER 2,625,914

METER FOR INDUSTRIAL LIQU'IDS Filed March 5, 1945 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 vINVENT OR.

BYMMMM/W Jan- 20, 1953 R. B. PREssLl-:R

METER FoR- INDUSTRIAL LIQUIDS 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed March l5, 1945 INVENTOR. BYM/K/f/ UNITED STATES ATENT OFFIC METER. FOR INDUSTRIAL LIQUIDS Ralph B. Pressler, Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to Bowser, Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application March 5, 1945, Serial No. 580,985

Claims. 1

This invention relates to a fluid meter of the positive displacement type which is adapted to meter a wide variety of liquids and which is simple and rugged in construction.

Heretofore some positive displacement meters have been built which were intended to meter alkaline, acidic or other corrosive liquids. Such meters were usually of all metal construction because of the corrosive action of the liquid but were not highly successful because many such liquids are dry, that is, they are poor lubricants and the metal to metal contact between the unlubricated movable and stationary parts, usually of stainless steels or bronzes, produced wear which eventually produced inaccuracy and/or inoperativeness due to seizing of the parts.

Similarly, attempts have been made to apply meters for metering liquids containing abrasive materials, such as, for instance, crude oils which contain sand and other grit, and numerous attempts have been made to design meters for this service. Nevertheless, usually the life of a positive displacement meter, or any other meter for that matter, has been measured in hours in such service. Consequently, wells making even moderate to small amounts of sand have heretofore been considered to be unmeterable and resort has been had to large and expensive gauge tanks with their attending problems.

Applicants structure as disclosed in this specication is capable of and has, in actual test, proven itself capable of overcoming the difficulties recitedV above in both the corrosive and the abrasive liquid fields.

It is therefore an object of the invention to produce 'a meter which will withstand the action of dry corrosive liquids.

Yet another object of the invention is to produce a meter which will withstand abrasion by liquids which contain abrasive materials.

Another object of this invention is to produce a meter of great accuracy of measurement with a low diierential of inlet and outlet of pressures.

Yet another object of this invention to to produce a meter which will operate smoothly throughout its capacity and pressure range.

Still .another object of this invention is to produce a meter of the control plate and track type which eliminates slippage of the control plate on the trackthereby reducing friction and Wear on these two members.

A further object of this invention is to produce a meter which will satisfactorily measure many liquids heretofore considered difficult or impossible to meter.

Another objectof this invention is to provide 2 a meter which is not dependent upon the metered liquid for its lubrication.

Another object of this invention is to provide a meter which can be easily Iassembled and disassembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a piston meter, in which the valve timing is not aiected by Wear of the parts.

Yet another object of the invention is to previde a meter in which the bearings are sealed against the entrance of the liquid being measured.

Still another object of the invention is to provid-e a meter having carbon bearings throughout.

It is another object of the invention to provide a control plate and a track therefor, together with mating gears for preventing any substantial relative sliding movement between the plate and the track.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide all the ball journals with carbon bearings.

Still an-other object of the invention is to dispose all such bearings in shielding relation over the ball journals to prevent the entrance of abrasive materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide circumferentially grooved pistons which continually scrape the cylinder walls.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an eccentric valve driving mechanism.

Still ano-ther object of the invention is to provide a carbon valve which is axially expandable.

It is still another object of the invention to make all parts which have surfaces which slide on the other of metal and carbon respectively wherever possible.

These and other objects will be apparent from a study of the specification and accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the meter, taken substantially on the center line, showing the various parts in assembled position.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the meter bowl show ing the gear teeth and track.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the valve and port plate arrangement.

Fig-ure 4 is a bottom View of the drive arm.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the numeral i designates the cylinder block in which preferably five cylinders 3 are formed which are spaced radially about the vertical center line of the block. The lower ends 5 of the cylinders are completely open While the upper ends are closed by a circular port plate 9 which is set in a recess Il of the block. Ports I3 equal in number to and opening into the cylinders and a centrally located circular hole I5, are formed in the port plate. A circular raised surface I! on the top of the plate extends from the central hole out beyondthe ports. This surface is highly nnished and forms a valve seat. Flat headed screws I9 are countersunk into the port plate and fasten the port plate to the cylinder block. n

A cored cylindrically shaped passage ZI coincides with the central hole I5 of the port plate 'and extends through the block between the cylinders. A boss 23, which is concentric with the of the meter and which is provided with an insert bearing 25, preferably made ofgiraphite carbon, is supported adjacent the bottoni of the sage by means of webs or spokes 27. x

A discharge passage 29 is cored into the cylinder block and extends from the top of the block to a chamber 3i which is formed by a substantially circular and flared wall 33 terminating in the'ilange 35, at the bottom of the cylinderblock. Tapped holes 37 are equally spaced about the flange,

The bowl S9 has a ange a! mating with the block flange 35. Clearance holes d3 are aligned with the tapped holes 37 in the block and screws 5 are utilized for fastening the bowl to the block, thereby forming a liquid' tight metal to metal joint. Y

concentric with the central axis of the bowl is an interior boss il which is provided with an exterior circular recess 49. The adjusting screw 5i, lock nut 55,'se'al cap' 5i, and seal wire and lead i''ne'st in the recess above the bottom surface of the bowl. Tapped hole 53 receives the adjusting screw.

The upper part of the adjusting screw is formed with a spherical journal Si which supports the control plate S3. A raised frusto-conical track t5', and a xed gear 6'?, both annular in shape, are cast into'the bowl. The' pipe plug S9 closes a drain hole located' at the lowest point of the meter.

The circular shaped control plate has an axially directed boss H which recessed at 'i5 to recei'vea vbearing '53. The bearing is preferably made of graphitic carbon and is provided with a hemispherical cavity 'ita which is adapted to receive the journal' l.

Five'sph'e'rical journalsv or balls?? are attached tothe lower walls 'I'i'ofI pockets 8@ formed in the control plate and are positioned radially about and preferably in, the sarne plane. The balls l? have threaded stud portions 'iii extending downwardly through tapped holes Ei and are locked in position by jam nuts 83.

An inverted frust'o-conical track 85 is formed on the under side of the control plate and a portion of this trackl is continuously in contact with the bowl track S5. The apices of the cones' coineide with the center of the sphericaljournal 6I. A bevelY gear. 8, which'is integral with the control plate and of larger diameter than track 85, is provided with teeth 3l which extend downwardly and, upon rotary motion of the control plate, mesh successively with gear teeth o? of a fixed bevel gear.

The apices of the pitch cones of the bevel gears are coincident with lthe center of journal The piston rods 9i comprise a shaft 93, a hollow'cylindrical socket t5, which receives a bearing 9"! having a hemispherical cavity and which is preferably made of graphitic carbon. The socket extends beyond the bearing and is swedge'd over ball- 'H so as'to form a ball and socke't'joirit. The upper end of the piston rod has va convexv spheri- 4 cal radius S9 which seats in a concave spherical Seat Ii of the piston I, the latter being also preferably made of graphitic carbon. A series of circumferential sharp edged grooves i G5 are formed in the piston to provide a liquid seal between the piston and the cylinder wall.v These grooves also willA receive foreign particles which are scraped from the cylinder wall by the edges of the lands |06 between the grooves, and this reduces wear on the walls.

The drive shaft i'i is journaled near its lower end in the bearing 25. The portion of the shaft projecting below the bearing carries the drive arm IBQ, the latter being secured to the shaft by key Il I and set screw I i3. The drive arm has a forked portion IIE (Figure li) offset at an obtuse angie to the axis of drive shaft Iil'! so as to be at substantially right angles to the shaft S9 which has oneend knurled and pressed into an opening l2 which iscoaxial with the boss li on the control plate, The fork receives the anti-friction roller l i? having an insert bearing llt preferably rnade of graphiticcarbon andheld in position on the shaft 89 by lock s im', washer E25, anda'y pin 23. A washer 'of felt, synthetic rubber or other materialv is provided to keep grit out of bearing HB. Aspring is seated in hole I2? ofthe drive arm and exerts a force on the roller i il' in a direction, away from shaft EQ'! to maintain gear teeth Gl and 87 and the tracks 65 and i5,inengagement.v

Washers |29 of feltV or synthetic rubber and I 3I of metal, along with pinV I33c'ooperate to keep the drive shaft l 0l fromdroppng down and alsoprevent'g'rt fromfentering the bearing 25,.

The relationship of the. track control plate, spherical journals, shaft 8.3:' and associated parts when viewed in a radialplanelwh'ich includes the shaft 89, the center of journal 6' I the center of av journal 11 and the point ofcontact of track 65 with track 85, is as described below. u

The axis of shaft 89 forms an angle of' less than 90 degrees (p-referably'li) with .the line joining the point of contact of the tracks and the center of journall. i i K The' linel joining point of contact between the tracks with the' center of journal 6| is disposed preferablyat an angle `of ,12? below the horizontal through the journal 6I., This construction causes the axis of shaft 89 to bedisplacedfrom the vertical by an angle of 24 so tha'tthev rjadius'o'f the drive arm is relatively long. This'reduces bearing pressures on arm IUS andkprovid'es' for more eifec tive transmission of torque"r to shaft I'Ol.

In nutating the control platea vhalf revolution, the lines joining theform'er points of contact between the tracks with the center of the journal !A will form an angle of 48 degrees. The line joining the point of Contact on the control' plate track with the center of journal BVI will move from a position' 12 below the horizontal through said journal to ap'osition 36 above it. Thus, if the journals' 'Il were disposed` with their centers .on this line there' would be' considerable horizontal -dis'placement' to; produce excessive angularity of the' piston rodsl QI. To reduce such angularity to a' minimum' Athe centers of theijournals TI are disposed on aline which runs .through the center of 6I at an angle`24`f below the libri-' zontal, when the two tracksarein contact; so that' the movement of the' vcontrol platef track to its 48`degree positionl willi :f'riove the J'Olrn'al' 71 to a position 24 degrees aboveI the horizontal; The horizontal displacement of the ball islthusreduced to the mini'rnurh' and th" displacement is equal in all correspondingv positions above and below the horizontal. Y

Obviously, the selection of an angle of .12 degrees throughout in describing the preferred form is one of convenience, and any other suitable angle may be used in designing a meter of this type.

The relation between the center of the journal 6| and the apex angles of the fixed track cone and fixed gear cone is disturbed somewhat by adjustment of the journal 6| up and down. However, wide adjustment of the journal is seldom required, and, even if it is required, the functions of the mechanism are not disturbed and the advantages of the structure are not lost.

An eccentric |35, comprised of an annular ring |31 and an oi center hub |39, joined by spokes |4I, is secured to the drive shaft |01 by key |43 and set screw |45.

The valve |41 is comprised of a lower ring |49 and an upper ring |5|, both annularly shaped and preferably made of graphitic carbon. The lower ring has a concentric hole |53 providing a slip t over the ring |31 of the eccentric, a. radially directed flange |55, a cavity or counterbore |51 formed in the lower side to reduce friction, and to permit passage of liquid from ports I3 to the passage 2|, and holes |59 disposed parallel to the axis of the ring. The upper valve ring |5| slips down over the lower ring and rests on springs |6| and forms a liquid tight joint at |63 with the lower ring.

The upper valve ring seats against the valve plate |65 machined in the meter head |61. The springs |6| maintain the lower and upper valve rings in a sealing relation to their seats |1 and |65 respectively.

The head has an inlet chamber |69 which receives liquid from a tapped inlet (not shown) and an outlet chamber |1| with wall |13 separating the two chambers. The inlet chamber distributes the incoming liquid to each of the ports I3 while chamber |1| communicates with the passages 2| and 29 of the cylinder block and with the cavity in the lower valve ring.

A hole |15 in the head and boss |19 is concentric with shaft |01 and has a bushing |11 preferably made of graphitic carbon pressed in flush with the valve plate |65. The bushing is shorter than hole |15 and its upper end is disposed below the surface of the circular boss |19 thus forming a recess |8| for the reception of a toroid seal |83, which when compressed by the side walls of the hole |15, retainer plate |85, and shaft |01 as the latter is passed through the bushing and toroid, provides a liquid seal between the meter head and the drive shaft. The toroid retainer plate |85 is fastened to the boss4 |19 by screws |81.

A collar |89 is fastened to the top end of shaft |01 by'key |95 and revolves with the shaft; and into the upper end of this collar is pressed the hub |9| of spur pinion |93. Where space permits, the collar and gear are replaced by a gear with a suitable hub keyed to the shaft.

Gear |93 meshes with gear |91, the latter being'pinned to shaft |99 which is supported by the bearingv 20| machined in boss 203 of an adapter member 205.

A collar 2|3 is pinned in position on the shaft |99 to prevent the shaft dropping down. The shaft |99 couples to the drive shaft (not shown) of the register 2|5. Screws 2|1 fasten the register to the adapter.

The adapter has a circular base 201 mating 6 with an annular upwardly extending projection -209 which is formed as a part of the vmeter 'hea/d.

Operation In operation liquid enters chamber |69 and passes through such of the ports I3 as are uncovered by the valve into the corresponding cylinders, exerting a downward thrust upon the pistons |03. This thrust istransmitted to the control plate 63 through the piston rod 9| thereby causing the control plate to nutate. The control plate track rides upon track 65 of the Ibowl with teeth 81 and'61 of the control plate and bowl respectively in engagement.

The nutatory motion of the control plate is converted into a rotary motion of boss 1| which is transmitted to the driving arm |09, shaft |01 and eccentric |39. The shaft |01 being mounted in two widely spaced bearings, is rigidly and accurately supported. This promotes long life of the bearings. The rotation of the eccentric imparts rotary motion to the valve |41, which is timed to successively close each port |3 to the inlet chamber |69 as a particular cylinder is filled and will shortly thereafter open the port to the discharge chamber |1| by way of Valve cavity |51, hole l5, passage 2|, chamber 3| and discharge passage 29. The valve (Figure 1) is rotated out of its true relation with respect to the control plate to enable the valve details to be more effectively shown.

The cycle of the valve and an individual cylinder is as follows: port |3 closed and piston |03 at tcp of stroke; port open to inlet and piston` descending as cylinder lls; measured quantity in cylinder, port closed and piston at bottom of' stroke; port opens to discharge and pistons rise forcing measured liquid from the cylinder to the discharge.

The differential between the inlet and discharge pressures is always applied to some of the pistons, and this supplies the power to operate the meter.

The rotary motion of shaft 01 is transmitted to the eccentric and thereby to the valve which sweeps the port plate 9 and the surface |65, and to the register 2|5 by means of gears |93 and |91 to indicate the quantity of liquid metered.

A vari-ation of the piston stroke, resulting in a change in the volumetric displacement of each cylinder is obtained Aby adjusting ball 6|. Lowering the ball reduces the effective stroke of each piston and results in a reduction of the quantity of liquid delivered per revolution of the meter. Raising the ball increases the piston stroke and increases the quantity delivered per revolution of the meter.

The gear teeth 81 and 61 of the control plate and bowl respectively cooperate to prevent any su'bstantialhslippage of the control plate relative toY the track, practically eliminates wear on the control plate and the bowl. and also produces a quiet and smooth running meter.

It has been customary in this type of meter to use the liquid being metered a-s a lubricant for the bearings, but this has limited the usage of this type of meter to liquids which were free from abrasives and which were lubricants. By the use of graphitic carbon in the bearings 25, 13, 91, ||8 and |11, pistons |03, and valve |41', the meter requires no lubricants and the eld of application of this type meter has been materially broadened. Further,` by shielding the ball journals, sealing the cylindrical bearings 7 against the 'entry -ofliqu'id being rnet'ered,--fa'ird -by 'providing grooves'fin the pistons, the rr'x'et'e-ring of abrasive liquids is `made possible.

Applicant prefers 'tc'u'sea graphitic carbon known to the tradeas"-Graphitar, Grade No. 2, manufactured .by the U.- AS.'Grraphite Company. It is a composition of Vcarbon and graphite Vwhich is .not impregnated with lubricant'and Which-is readily machinabla It is obvious that various changes fmagy 'he 'made in the form, ystructure and Varrangement-iol parts Wit-hout departing from the fspiri-toi the invention. Accordingly, applicant does not desire to be limi-ted rtothe speci-o emlcodiment disclosed herein Vprimarily forpurposes-of illustration; but-V instead, he'desires'protection falling fairly VWithin the scopecf the appended claims.

What I claim to -fbe new'jand desire `togprotect by Letters-Patent l ofthe Unitedvl-States is:

1. lIn a duid-meter cornprisilfsA acasejhavin-g a ui'd inlet, anfoutl'etz-and displacement means comprising a plurality jof cylinders, each having a'port, pistons mounted for .movement fin said cylinders, valve means for-saidV ports for-controlling the 110W of .luidto and' from said-cylinders and means `connecting saidl valve means to be drivenv by said pistons, the -improvementv/herein said connecting means comprises'a control plate having a peripheral-gearand an annular track,

a corresponding gear and track in said case, said tracks cooperating to support said plates and limit the degree of engagement of the gearand said gears o ooperatingtosprevent rotation 4of said plate-relative tosa ic'lpistonsj` 2.7111 a fluid meter comprising .a casehaving displaoement-means conjiprisingV a plurality oi cylinders, .pistons in said cylindersjand a conf trol plate, va valve, a central spherical journal upon which said control plate nutates, means mounting .said journal A.for adjustment along its vertical .axis to vary. the displacemenalthe improvement which vcomprises an inverted -rustoconical track formed on the control plate .having its apex coincident with Ythe centerofsaidfjournal, a frustoi'conical trackfi-xedisaid 4case and havingits apex coincident with the fverticalaiis of saidvjourn'al, -a Yshaft'on saidjcontrolplate c oaxial With tl'ieaxi's of the control plate lrusturn, meansdrive'nb'y .said-.shaft for actuating the valve, ythe 'apex Vangles lof said 'frusturnsfbeing edualfa gear on 'said Vcontrol plate parallelo/ith said trackand a gear on the case adapte'dto mesh with saidi'irs't-na'rned gear.

3. In a fluid meter comprisin'gacase Vhaving displacement means comprising a plurality of cylinders',pistons in -said cylinders, piston rods and a control plate, a valve, a central. spherical journal upon which said` control plate nuisettes, means for adjusting the journal along. itsvr'tical axis to vary thedisplacement, thesimprovenient which comprises an inverted frustolooiiic'al' .track formed 'on the'control platefhavingA its ,apex coincident With the ce'nterof .said journal, 'a'frusto- .conical track lredv in s-idoa'se" and' having-its apex 'substantially coincidenti with the center ,of ,sad'jOiinaL .a Shaft lSid'cJtl plate OXla-l with the axis 'Of the oontroll'plate frustuin, r'rieaii's driven hy said 'shaft for lactue'tting the valve.' the apex angles yof said frustums `being equal, said piston rods connecting 'said pistons With spherical journals on said control plate, "thecenters vof said rod journalsl being Vdisposed "at such a distance vlo'elc'nw the level of the track onthecontrol plate that'a horizontal plane lthrough the centralljou'rnal--tvill bisect the path of travel of ther centers 8 of the rod journal-s; 'aA 4gear'onthe "QQi'itrol-plate parallel with said track thereon and-"a gear on the case-paralleli with the track 4on the case, said gears Abeing constructed and arranged 'to -mesh 'progressively gas said control -plfate inutates.

4. In -a uid meter, a mechanism Vcoin'prising 'a control plate and a case, a central spherical journal in said case upon which lsaidco'ntrol plate vfruta-tes', an inverted frustoconical track formed onY the `control plate having its' alieecoincident With the center of sa-idjour-nal, a fijnste-conical track liked in said 'case andhavli'ng fits apes substantially-coincident Withtlre' ce ter of said journal, the apex 'angles of said '-''u-sturnsbeing` equal, ate parallel With said 'track and gearuon case Jadapted'to #rnesh With-said irfstlnam'ed gear.

l5. yIn a 'iluid meter, A"a rn'ech-ar'iisrfn comprising a control plate, a central spherical AjcJ'u-rr'ia'l upon which said control plate nutates, means 'for adjusting ysaid uif'iurrial lalong 'its vertical axis to vary the displacement, lan inverted {ruste-conical tr-ack foii'ned'on the cont-"rol'plfate having its apex 'c riciderit vvith the oen-ter "of sa-'d journal, a 'truste-conical track ViiX'ed in said case andh-aving its Ialpen substantially coincident with the center ofvsaid journal, the apex angles of said frustums being -equal, .piston rods mounted in spherical journal'son "said control plate, thecenters of said rod `ufr-"nais being disposed onltlie control plate at such a distance below the level of the control plate track that a horizontal plane through the central journal will bisect th'ep'ath of travel of Athe centers ofthe rod journals, a rgear on the control plate parallel with said track thereon and a gear on lthe case parallel with the track on the case, said gears being constructed and arranged to mesh progressively as said control plate nutates.

RALPH B. PRESSLER REFERENCES CITED The following references-*are of Vrecord in the le of this patent:

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